China's growth slowed more than forecast last quarter as exports and domestic demand cooled, boosting pressure on Premier Wen Jiabao to loosen policy further and shore up expansion in the world's second-biggest economy.

Gross domestic product expanded 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the least in almost three years, after an 8.9 percent gain in the fourth quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said in Beijing today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 41 economists was 8.4 percent. Industrial production rose at a faster pace in March while retail sales growth accelerated, the data showed.

An unexpected surge last month in new yuan loans reported yesterday shows the ruling Communist Party is trying to avoid a deeper growth slide this year amid a once-a-decade power transfer to younger leaders. A China slowdown may add to concerns that global expansion is losing steam after job gains in the U.S. lagged forecasts and Europe's sovereign-debt crisis threatened to worsen.